1. WHY MARRIAGES FAIL

2. MARRIAGE IS GOOD.  Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honorable among all…  Genesis 2:18 It is not good that man should be alone…  Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the L ORD.

3. MARRIAGE IS SERIOUS. Matthew 19:6-9 Romans 7:1-4 1 Corinthians 7:39 A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

4. WHY MARRIAGES FAIL  A Lack of Teaching

5. A LACK OF TEACHING  Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the L ORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Cf. Proverbs 1:7  Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Cf. Eph. 6:4

6. WHY MARRIAGES FAIL  A Lack of Teaching  A Lack of Biblical Love

7. A LACK OF BIBLICAL LOVE  Characteristics - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8  Titus 2:4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands,…  Ephesians 5:22-23  Colossians 3:14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

8. WHY MARRIAGES FAIL  A Lack of Teaching  A Lack of Biblical Love  A Failure to Work

9. A FAILURE TO WORK (NO REAL COMMITMENT)  “If it doesn’t work out, we’ll just get divorced.”  “The grass in always greener on the other side of the fence.”  Proverbs 6:9-11 Ephesians 5:22-23, 1 Peter 3:1-7

10. WHY MARRIAGES FAIL  A Lack of Teaching  A Lack of Biblical Love  A Failure to Work  A Lack of Togetherness

11. A LACK OF TOGETHERNESS  Doing our own thing to the exclusion of doing our thing.  The emotional bond of being together  Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

12. WHY MARRIAGES FAIL  A Lack of Teaching  A Lack of Biblical Love  A Failure to Work  A Lack of Togetherness  The Absence of Christianity

13. THE ABSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY  Psalm 127:1 Unless the L ORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the L ORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.  Matthew 22:37-39

14. WHY MARRIAGES FAIL  A Lack of Teaching  A Lack of Biblical Love  A Failure to Work  A Lack of Togetherness  The Absence of Christianity  A Lack of Communication

15. A LACK OF COMMUNICATION  1 Corinthians 2:11a For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?  Matthew 18:15a “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

16. WHY MARRIAGES FAIL  A Lack of Teaching  A Lack of Biblical Love  A Failure to Work  A Lack of Togetherness  The Absence of Christianity  A Lack of Communication  Contentiousness

17. CONTENTIOUSNESS  Proverbs 17:1 Better is a dry morsel with quietness, Than a house full of feasting with strife.  Proverbs 25:24 It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.  1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

18. WHY MARRIAGES FAIL  A Lack of Teaching  A Lack of Biblical Love  A Failure to Work  A Lack of Togetherness  The Absence of Christianity  A Lack of Communication  Contentiousness